La Piovra (Italian: The Octopus, referring to "The Mafia") is an acclaimed Italian Television drama miniseries about the Mafia.

The story was by Sandro Petraglia. The production was designed by Luigi Perelli. The soundtrack was by Riz Ortolani and later by Ennio Morricone, who went on to compose music for several sequels.

All 10 series have been released in Australia on DVD by Aztec International Entertainment, with English subtitles [1], having been originally aired on the Special Broadcasting Service television channel. It was also broadcast on MHz Networks in the United States. The first three series were shown in the UK on Channel 4.

The TV drama was wildly successful in the USSR, where it appeared on state TV in 1986 [2] and in communist Bulgaria, where is also appeared in the end of the 1980s bg:Октопод (сериал), offering to the viewers of both countries thrills and dark drama from beyond the Iron Curtain (Here)

External links
La Piovra at the Internet Movie Database (1984) 402 min
La Piovra 2 at the Internet Movie Database (1985) 384 min
La Piovra 3 at the Internet Movie Database (1987) 430 min
La Piovra 4 at the Internet Movie Database (1989) 600 min
La Piovra 5 - Il cuore del problema (核心问题)at the Internet Movie Database (1990) 400 min
La Piovra 6 - L' ultimo segreto (最后的秘密)at the Internet Movie Database (1992) 420 min
La Piovra 7 (警长死亡调查)at the Internet Movie Database (1994) 600 min
La Piovra 8 - Lo scandalo (诽谤)at the Internet Movie Database (1997) 220 min
La Piovra 9 - Il patto (契约)at the Internet Movie Database (1998) 220 min
La Piovra 10 at the Internet Movie Database (1999) 200 min (Here)

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Part 1 - GOOD AND EVIL - After the mafia killed his family, and a number of people who trusted him, Cattani sees a couple of criminals condemned to light sentences only. A DEA team brings him back from the mountain retreat with good monks, to the evil world of a drugs-for-arms deal. Solace comes in the form of new affections for a banker's daughters, who look like his lost wife and daughter. Part 2 - NO ESCAPE - Cattani uses a TV interview to reveal he found out about one of The Octopus telephone numbers. That is enough to spread havoc in the criminal rang, but the mafia leaves the American investigators no escape. Part 3 - THIRSTING FOR VENGEANCE - Cattani falls in love with Giulia, but his inquest does not go far, until Giulia's father dies, and her grandfather takes hold of the family bank again. Part 4 - REFUGE - The Antinari bank is backing the illegal arms deal, trusted friends and servants may not be what they seem, and Cattani is undecided between personal vendetta and life in a monastery. Part 5 - MASSACRE - Anna Antinari gets hold of documents that are essential for the arms deal, and trusts her life and that of her child daughter Greta to the good monks who were already hosting Cattani. For the mafia in liaison with a member of parliament, monastery walls are no protection against a new massacre. - Part 6 - TO THE SOUTH AGAIN - Cattani meets Giulia again at her mother's funeral, and research and luck bring him up North to Rome, in order to discover the way to the South again, from where a ship will depart with an illegal arms cargo. Part 7 - MEETING AGAIN - Giulia reconciles with her grandfather Nicola, and her second meeting with chief inspector Corrado Cattani is yet a probe for his loyalty to duty. One man ends a life of power tragically; the other hangs desperately to life because, as Giulia saysn.(Here)

本站简译: 重回罗马-卡迪尼坠入朱丽亚的爱河.他也为自己的行为感到困惑.不过到她父亲死去为止他不会走太远,因为她的祖父又重新控制了家族的银行.

编者注: 本页右侧提供了CCTV播出的汉语版"出生入死"第3部的录制节目.由于国内和国外的编号不同,所以对于国外编号的La Piovra 3言,则相当于CCTV版的第17-25集.(总长度405分钟,参见此页说明) 由于它们上传的年代较早,当年曾受视频网站能力的限制,每一集均被分为两部分上传,所以这里共有18个视频链接.而现在的视频网站都已可以接受2G以上的文件,因而也可见网络发展速度之一斑.更多请见此页NA-8504

Liv Ullmann plays real-life Jewish dissident and astronomer Ida Nudel in this historical biography. Ida is denied papers to emigrate after her lover Yuli (Daniel Olbrychski) is release from a labor camp. When Yuli and Ida's sister Elena (Aurore Clement) receive their papers, Ida rides with them on a train bound for Vienna and jumps off before she crosses the border. Arrested for protesting in Moscow in 1980, Ida is sent to an all-male prison where she is in constant danger of assault. After being transferred to a woman's camp, Ida returns to Moscow to find that her apartment is occupied, Yuli has married, and she is banished from the city she loves. Ida wanders from village to village until she recalls her story to an American reporter.(Here)

A Jewish scientist in Russia becomes frustrated with the antisemitism in her country and decides to leave with her friend and sister. When they go to receive emigration permits, her sister and friend pass but she is declined.(Here)

The lives of various inhabitants of a big city district are examined and revealed. (Here)

The different faces of love provide the theme for this beautifully photographed film comprised of four short episodes. In the first story, two sisters head out for a New Year's Eve celebration and end up getting a ride with a car full of boys. The lads rape one of the girls, and strangely, the victim ends up falling in love with one of the rapists. In the second story, two young bucks who have been friends for ages spend a weekend at one of their wealthy father's homes. Eventually, they become much more than friends. The third tale deals with the emotions of an abandoned lover. While moping about, he watches TV and sees the picture of a Bengal tiger. Soon he becomes obsessed by the creature and spends many hours observing it at the zoo. His lover decides to return, but he spurns her. In the last story, a homeless fellow lives in an abandoned car. Among the locals he is known for his wisdom. One day, the doorkeeper of an adjacent building goes to see the derelict. She ends up finding herself strangely drawn to him. (Here)

Liberal district attorney decides to seek the death penalty for a man who slaughtered a family at Christmastime, then drank their blood. He escapes, though, and starts killing again.(Here)

(Italian) Duello in tribunale per stabilire se un assassino per il quale si chiede la pena di morte sia o no un malato mentale. In bilico tra dramma giudiziario e thriller, è un esempio inquietante e insolito di cinema civile. Friedkin conduce un coraggioso discorso sul dovere di difendere i valori della convivenza civile anche di fronte all'orrore di una violenza insostenibile. Travolto dal fallimento della DEG (la società americana di Dino De Laurentiis), il film fu distribuito senza successo con 5 anni di ritardo. Sulla TV italiana passò col titolo Ritratto di un serial killer.
(Here)

1925: an american archeologist, Desmond Jordan moves to Africa seeking the "Speaking mountain". This brings him in the middle of Sahara's desert, where he meets some deserters of the Foreign Legion. Jordan escapes with Orso (Bear) from a siege by Ryker, a lieutenant of the battallion and moves towards the mountain. Ryker and El Hallem, head of local tribes, run after Jordan that turned blind approaching the mountain. The liutenant gives vent to his violence murdering some locals and sparing just the life of their queen Anthea. Later she recovers Jordan's blindness and, together with El Hallem (redeemed), helpes the archeologist to defeat Ryker. Eventually, Jordan Anthea and Orso discover the secret of the mountain.(Here)

本站简译: 1925年：美国考古学家德斯蒙德 约旦迁居到非洲为了探索一座“发声的山脉”.他来到撒哈拉沙漠的中部. 在那里他遇见了一些外籍军团的逃兵.约旦和奥索从一个陆军中尉里克的包围中逃脱.里克和一个部落首领哈勒姆紧紧地跟踪约旦,在接近山脉的路上,约旦的眼睛却突然失明.....

An experiment of psychological effects under stressfull conditions in a shelter. When fifteen strangers are put into a nuclear shelter to see how long they can survive without interaction with the outside, things work out fine. Written by Marcos Eduardo Acosta Aldrete

Fifteen strangers of various ages and backgrounds are brought together by a scientific experiment in Frankfurt, Germany. They are committed to live for twenty days in a state-of-the-art nuclear fallout shelter. During the first days, they live in harmony, in despite of the cultural differences, the stale food, and the lack of entertainment. But near the end of the experiment, these people find out that a real nuclear attack is in progress. While it is widespread panic outside of the shelter, things take a turn for the worst inside.(Here)

本站简译: 在德国法兰克富一个核掩体庇护所,十五个不同背景,不同年令的人,要在和外界隔离的情况下,被关在一个核掩体中度过二十天,以进行一次心理反应的试验,看他们能有多长时间和睦相处.一开始,人们之间都能互相融洽协调,但在试验结束时,却发生了问题.....

编者注: 此片在IMDB未查到英文名The day before,这个英文名是由官方网站直接转来的,不过它的意文名Il Giorno Prima直译也是"前一天".在这个音乐网站上我们则是看到了Recorded at Studio Forum - Roma (December 1986).
Taken from the 1987 movie 'Il Giorno Prima' (Control / The Day Before) directed by Giuliano Montaldo. 的描述,特此说明

A depiction of the mob warlord who ruled Prohibition-era Chicago . . . and the law enforcer who vowed to bring him down. Stars Kevin Costner as Eliot Ness, Robert De Niro as gangland kingpin Al Capone and Sean Connery as Malone, the cop who teaches Ness how to beat the mob: shoot fast and shoot first. Written by Robert Lynch

Young Treasury Agent Elliot Ness arrives in Chicago and is deternimed to take down Al Capone but he learns that it's not going to be easy, because Capone has the police in his pocket. But Ness meets Jimmy Malone a veteran patrolman and probably the most honorable one in the force. He asks Malone to help him get Capone but Malone warns him that if he goes after Capone, he is going to war. They recruit academy cadet, George Stone and Treasury agent Oscar Wallace, who is also an accountant, who wants to prosecute Capone for tax evasion. When they make headway, Capone tries to get them but they are untouchable.(Here)

　　在一位老警员马龙的领导下，纳斯重新振作起来，并且组成了一个行动小组，独立进行打击酒类走私的活动。纳斯摧毁了卡朋的地下仓库，并且拒绝了卡朋的贿赂。邪恶的卡朋对纳斯发出了威胁。但纳斯毫不妥协，又在边境查获了卡朋的走私车队，并且抓到了卡朋的一位重要手下。马龙设法迫使他答应作指控卡朋的证人，但就在法庭外的电梯里，证人和行动小组的一位成员却都被卡朋的手下所暗杀。愤怒的纳斯前去找卡朋算帐，被老练的马龙制止。马龙从卡朋相勾结的警察局长那里得到了情报。

　　然而，就在纳斯前往马龙家时，马龙已经被卡朋的杀手袭击，生命垂危，依据马龙所留下的线索，纳斯等人前往车站埋伏，一场枪战过后，抓住了卡朋的记帐员。卡朋以逃税的罪名被起诉，卡朋的手下又企图采取行动，但却被纳斯察觉，在经过一番效量后，纳斯除掉了杀手，为朋友们报了仇，同时，他还得到了一份卡朋的行贿名单。 在法庭上，纳斯巧妙地使卡朋被判有罪。 这场较量，终于以正义战胜邪恶而结束(这里)